Something Like Love
by CorinNorway
Summary: Chloe is broken after the death of Brian. And Alek may just be her saving grace. May turn M later.
1. Chapter 1

Sexy British dudes had always kind of been my thing. I was infamous for my crushes on everyone from Daniel Radcliffe to...that blond guy on House. For some reason, though, now that I am in the midst of possibly the most attractive guy I have ever met in my life, I can't say anything. Because he's my freaking protector. That meant that Valentina had full power to demolish him to nothing but a pile of ash within a matter of seconds. I could admit though, it wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world to do; to have to hang around with such a sadistic personality all the time. I mean, he wasn't evil like the people who were trying to hunt ME down to end this whole race of cat-people-aliens, the Mai. He was just a little edgy, and he had a horrible sense of humor. So, that didn't explain why I was sneaking out tonight to meet with him.

Tonight, the plan was that I was going to walk down to the intersection and wait for him outside of the local coffee shoppe. From there, the only thing he happened to let slip was that we were going to the woods outside of town, but he didn't happen to mention why, and I didn't happen to build up the courage to ask. I was admittedly, crushing really hard on Alek, but the one thing I had learned in the short time I'd known him, was that he could be very intimidating when he wanted to be. I learned quickly that when I didn't have to be serious or ask anything relevant in the least, I wasn't planning on it. He could turn so serious so fast, and it almost hurt to see him turn the switch that fast.

I obviously started to get too wrapped up in my own thoughts, because I didn't hear the voice behind me until his hand touched my shoulder carefully, "If I were an assassin, you'd be dead right now, Chloe." he reprimanded, as we took off in the direction of his truck.

The ride went quietly for the most part, until he turned up the radio to ease the awkward tension. Of course, it was one of my favorite songs that happened to be on; Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I could tell that he was about to change the station, but the song caught his fancy too. I started to quietly hum the tune to myself until he burst into full-out song. I followed suit, feeling better about it, since I wasn't completely alone.

After the song finished on the typical big, dramatic note, that we both hit on an octave that probably only dogs could hear, I broke into a kind of laughter that I hadn't been able to produce for quite some time. Alek looked both amused and self-conscious at once, as he looked over at me with his impish little grin and asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not sure." I answered, truly befuddled, "I guess I just figured that, as a member of the guard, you just didn't have much time to listen to the radio."

He chuckled lightly, and centered his focus back on the wind shield, "Chloe, what do you think I do up in that tree all night?" he asked, not out of genuine curiosity, more as a joke, as he pulled an iPod out of his back pocket and tossed it to her, "That righ there," he motioned to the device now residing in my hand, "has 4, 500 of the best songs known to man on it. That is how I get myself through the night."

"And here I was, thinking you were spending your time admiring me from afar." I joked, but that suddenly made him turn a bit more serious. Oops.

"That's just a bonus, Chloe." the rest of the trip was taken in silence, until finally, he turned on the emergency brake and cranking his door open, "We're here." he said, motioning around to the tall trees all around them, when I noticed something that frightened me a little more than the fact that I was in the pitch black woods with the scariest person I had ever met.

"Alek, at what point did you stop driving on the road?" I asked quietly, feeling the earthy soil beneath my feet.

"About ten minutes ago. There is something back here I want you to see." he yelped excitedly, taking my hand and dragging me behing him. We ran at our supernatural speed all the way into the deepest parts of the woods, where we finally stopped, winded. I could hear water in the background. I figured it was just a river, but when my night-vision finally set in, I saw what he had brought me there to see. Before us, there was a huge waterfall, "We're here." he smiled, pointing to the huge spectacle in front of us. I was hardly conscious enough in the site of something like this to notice that his arms were making their way around my waist. I just stood there, enjoying the touch until I realized something.

"You know, I can't kill you." I whispered in shock, turning to look into his eyes.

"Yes, Chloe. I can assure you that I am absolutely possitive that you couldn't kill me. I could, however, kill you in a matter of seconds." his impish little smile spread across his face again. I knew he was sure of what I was talking about.

"Oh, you know what I mean, Alek." I rolled my eyes, pushing him away subconsciously.

"You know what, I'm not sure that I do." he pulled my closer once again, and we both just stood there leaning against each other in a comfortable way until the sound of the falls caught my attention again, and I caught his attention, "What are you thinking?" he asked, pulling a stray piece of hair out of my face.

"I was thinking that I really want to jump." I smiled, pulling away from Alek, taking a step back, and running forward to the pool of water fifty feet below.

"Are you completely bonkers?" he yelled, running after me. Suffice it to say, we were fairly far back, it was going to lead to a very harsh fall, "It swirls down there! You'll drown!" he called, taking the jump only moments after me, and grabbing my hand quickly. It was a good five seconds before we even hit the water. As was promised, we were both pulled further under by the swirling water. I could feel Alek kicking furiously, as he lost grib of my wrist.

The next thing I saw was a ton of blue as I was pulled under. They say that drowning is the most painful way to die. I would have to disagree with that one. Considering everything that had happened in the past hour or so that Alek and I had been together, I welcomed the end of my second life as a friend.

What felt like only moments later, I awoke to a pair of strangely foreign lips against mine. I had a small spasm as I tried to stabilize my body with my elbows. Over me stood Alek, a look of relief plastered across his face, "Did I-" I started, not wanting to finish the sentence. I passed out after being under water for somewhere near a minute and a half. The miserable part was that you could actually feel your lungs filling up with water.

He shook his head, and as a tiny smile spread across his features, I would have sworn I saw a tear fall from his cheek, "No, no; you didn't! Your heart didn't stop once. I- um, got back to you, and I gave you CPR."

I sat up finally, the shock setting in. I through my arms around his neck and started crying for some reason. I couldn't tell why, but I happened to notice that he wasn't wearing his serious face. It was something beautiful. Something like love.

A/N: PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I TRIED WRITING THIS ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO AND I STOPPED. I'VE SINCE STARTED A NEW ACCOUNT AND I PLAN TO FINISH IT! ALSO, I PROBABLY SHOULD'VE LET YOU ALL KNOW, ENGLISH IS ACTUALLY NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE, SO LET ME KNOW IF IT'S WORKING OKAY FOR ME.


	2. Chapter 2

"We are gathered here today - not to mourn a death - but to celebrate a life." the pastor toiled on in front of the sniffeling crowd. I sat at the very back of the church, alongside Paul and Amy, with Alek waiting inconspicuously behind me for this whole ordeal to be over.

Although I was acting like everything was okay, the truth of the matter was that it had only been four days. Four days ago, I learned that my father was gone for good. Jasmine and Valentina are both gone. Lord only knows where the Jackals are at this point. The Order is still after me. And now to top it all off, I'm sitting at the back of the sanctuary at Brian's funeral.

Since my birthday I haven't had any opportunity at all to rest. It's been non-stop action since the day I turned sixteen. It's forced me to grow up so much. And frankly, the only thing it's taught me is that I don't want to be a grown up yet.

Against my mother's wishes, I decided to move out yesterday evening. I packed a bag with everything I thought I could need, hugged my mother goodbye, and took off to Alek's house. I told her I'd be back when things got back to normal, but I'm sure she didn't know that that was sort of a round-about way of me saying, 'I'll be around. You can find me at school tomorrow, but I'm not coming back to live with you.'

I didn't realize until after the fact that I was crying. Amy was offering me a tissue from underneath the pew and I grabbed it to dab at my eyes. I felt so incredibly selfish. I was crying for my own losses. I wasn't crying because Brian lost his life. I was crying because I was still alive.

Of course, I spared a glance to the front-row to see Brian's father sitting there stone-faced. He didn't have a word to say when he was offered to take the podium and say a few words about his son. And he could deny it all he wanted, but I knew that he knew I was here. I just sat back here and glared holes into the back of his head for the remainder of the service.

After the ceremony had been completed, I snuck out the back along with Amy, and Paul, "That's hard stuff." Amy commented, dabbing at her eyes once we were out of sight, "He lost his son."

"And he really doesn't seem any worse for wear, does he?" I snapped, glaring back inside the window to where Mr. Rezza stood behind his son's casket, not a single expression evident on his face, "I wouldn't be surprised if he has his spies in me right now. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd wired me during the ceremony."

"Chloe, why don't we get you home so we can talk about something else?" Amy offered, "I know it sounds insensitive, but you can't let this get you don't. You're the freaking Uniter. You're supposed to be a ball-buster extraordinaire. And honestly, I think that's what Brian would want you to do if he were here."

"And, you know, he knew about the whole Mai thing?" Paul interjected.

"Paul," Amy sighed, giving him the my-boyfriend-the-idiot look. She extended one finger toward the parking garage before snapping, "Go wait in the car." and he slinked off without question, "Are you going to be okay, Chloe?" Amy finally asked, rubbing a comforting hand up the length of my arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just going to go home. I can't stay here. It doesn't feel right." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Chloe, this isn't your fault. You know that, right?" Amy asked, refusing to let me go without knowing that I was perfectly okay.

I nodded my head reluctantly, "Yeah, I know that. I just wish it hadn't happened this way."

"I know you do," Amy whispered, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, "You're going to be better because of this. Sooner or later, you're going to get out of this slump you're in right now, and you're going to be better than ever."

"I really hope you're right." I murmured back, my face in her shoulder.

"Are we all set?" Alek asked, exiting the church.

"I'm ready whenever." I sighed.

"Alright, I'll pull the car around." he said, taking off around the back of the building, as the first trickle of rain began.

"Chloe, you don't have to leave with him if you don't want. I can take you home whenever you're ready to leave." I got what Amy was whispering about. It got on my nerves every time she brought it up.

Amy thought Alek was hitting me. Like, beating me. She thought that's why I left home and that's why I jumped at his every whim. When in all actuality, the only reason I jumped was because I finally came to the conclusion that he probably knew more than I did about this whole 'protecting the Uniter' thing, so I should probably listen. And I left home for the same reason. At the end of the day, in order to keep myself alive, I had to stay connected at the hip with Alek.

"I'll be fine." I reiterated, once the truck was parked in front of me and the door popped open, "I'm just really exhausted. I'm going home and I'm going to bed." I assured, hugging Amy goodbye.

"Okay. Text me when you get there. I'll be around later tonight with chinese and Moulin Rouge." she called as I got in.

Before the truck pulled away I gave her a curt nod and off we went. As soon as we were out of sight and far along the road, I broke down. My shoulders shook, tears fell, and I beat my fists against the dashboard. I could barely catch my breath through my sobs. This was my fault. No matter what they said, it was my fault.

Alek did not say a word. He simply pulled off the side of the road, rolled the windows up, turned the ignition off, and let me break down. I slumped over and collapsed across his lap. Remaining calmer than I'd ever seen him, his just held me and brushed my hair out of my face, "It's going to be okay." he whispered, running a hand through my hair absently.

How long did we stay like that? Ten minutes? An hour? I completely lost track of time, but apparently somewhere along I had gotten so exhausted that I fell asleep, at which point Alek continued on and drove me back to the apartment. The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the couch with a duvet thrown haphazardly over my shoulders.


End file.
